The African Union called on member states to increase domestic health financing and strengthen resilient health systems during its Extraordinary Summit on Health, held on July 21 and 22, 2026, in Accra, Ghana. The meeting brought together African leaders, ministers and health partners to accelerate efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and address persistent health challenges across the continent.
A renewed political commitment
Africa remains the region most affected by HIV, despite significant progress over the past two decades. New HIV infections have fallen by 40 per cent since 2010, while wider access to antiretroviral treatment has enabled millions of people living with the virus to lead healthier lives.
However, these gains remain threatened by persistent inequalities in access to healthcare, medicine shortages, weak health systems and declining external funding.
Against this backdrop, the Accra summit placed stronger health systems and greater domestic investment at the center of Africa’s health agenda.
Speaking at the meeting, African Union Chairperson and President of Burundi
Evariste Ndayishimiye called on member states to adopt the Accra Declaration as a renewed continental commitment to stronger political leadership, increased domestic investment in health, resilient health systems and equitable access to quality healthcare.
He stressed that health should be viewed not only as a development priority, but also as a strategic investment in Africa’s economic transformation and sustainable development.
Financing the response
Funding emerged as one of the main challenges facing the continent’s health systems. According to UNAIDS, the global HIV response in low- and middle-income countries requires an estimated US$21.9 billion annually, with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for a significant share of these needs.
The funding gap comes as African countries continue to face several simultaneous health threats. HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal mortality, neglected tropical diseases and non-communicable diseases continue to place pressure on already fragile systems.
The summit therefore called for increased domestic financing, stronger international and regional cooperation and innovative approaches to sustain health programs and protect the gains already achieved.
A wider health crisis
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that Africa’s health challenges are being compounded by conflicts, poverty, inequalities, weak health systems and humanitarian crises.
He pointed to the structural imbalance between Africa’s population and the resources available to address its health burden. The continent is home to nearly 17 per cent of the world’s population but carries about 24 per cent of the global disease burden, while accounting for less than 3 per cent of the global health workforce and around 1 per cent of global health expenditure.
For participants, these disparities underline the need for a stronger and more sustainable approach to health financing and service delivery.
Keeping the 2030 target within reach
Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 does not necessarily mean eliminating HIV completely. It means bringing the epidemic under lasting control
so that it no longer represents a major threat to public health.
Achieving this objective will require sustained political commitment, adequate financing and stronger health systems capable of reaching vulnerable populations.
The Accra summit thus placed health at the center of Africa’s development agenda, with member states urged to turn political commitments into concrete investments and actions that can sustain progress beyond 2030.
